Former 'American Idol' contestant to play SteelStacks in Bethlehem, websites say

March 30, 2014|By John J. Moser, Of The Morning Call

A former "American Idol" contestant will be among the artists playing at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem this summer, several websites say.

Casey Abrams, the bearded, wooly-haired growling singer who was a Top 10 contestant on the 2011 season of "American Idol" – the one won by Scotty McCreery – will play Levitt Pavilion on July 11, several concert listing sites say.

They don't say whether the show will be one of the free Levitt Pavilion offerings or one of the shows in the new Yuengling Summer Concert series of paid shows. The first announced show in that series, indie rockers Modest Mouse, has sold out the 3,000 capacity of its May 21 concert.

ArtsQuest has not announced the show.

But the fact that Abram's show would be on a Friday – one of the days usually reserved for the free shows – suggests it, too would be free.

The Levitt Pavilion has not announced its lineup, which for the past three years has included more than 50 free shows. It announced last year's season in mid-April, with concerts starting in mid-May and concluding in late September.

Abrams, 23, played a show at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope in October for which tickets cost $25-$65.

Abrams on "Idol" had a bigger-than-life personality (he once kissed Jennifer Lopez's hand during a performance) and was as entertaining as his singing.

He also was the one judges saved when he was first voted off.

He released a self-titled disc in 2012 for which "Idol" former judge and present mentor Randy Jackson was executive producer , but it just missed the Top 100.

He released two singles that did reasonably well: The first, "Get Out," broke the Top 25 on the Adult chart and the second, "Simple Life" hit the Top 10 on the Smooth Adult chart.